KEITH WHITCOMB JR.

Staff Writer

BENNINGTON -- A 24-hour curfew and $10,000 bail was placed on an Adams Street man who allegedly hit another in the head with a pipe outside a store Monday.

Ian R. Wright, 29, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Bennington Superior Court Criminal Division to a felony count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Court records indicate he posted bail and must abide by a 24-hour curfew except for work, court, and medical appointments.

According to an affidavit by Cpl. Christopher Lauzon, of the Bennington Police Department, on Monday he was dispatched to the Cumberland Farms on Northside Drive for a report that a man had struck another in the head with a pipe, and that the name of the suspected attacker was Wright.

Lauzon said he spoke to Alison Cornell, who said she was outside the gas station when she heard people arguing. She said she saw a man she knows to be Wright hit another man in the head with a pipe then drive off. Lauzon said he was then told by dispatchers that Wright had called them and was back where he works on Morse Road waiting for police.

Lauzon said he spoke to the man who was hit, Scott McConnell, 24, at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. He told police he was at Cumberland Farms and saw a girl he used to date near Wright. He said he has issues with Wright and said some "trash talk" to him, then slapped his car. He said Wright was led to believe he had kicked it, so he got out and took a white pipe from the back of his vehicle. McConnell said he turned to leave, fearing he would be hit, and was struck on the back of the head. He said he felt dizzy and bled a lot.

Police spoke to Dakota Burdick, who said he talked to Wright after the incident, and who told him he felt threatened by McConnell and his brother, who was there for the incident.

According to the affidavit, Wright did not give a statement to police.